Steve Jobs's Death: The World Reacts

The death of Steve Jobs has spawned an outpouring of grief and gratitude from his fans across the globe. From celebrities and Silicon Valley titans to everyday Mac and iPod users, people around the world are taking to the streets and the web to show how he touched and changed them.

Since the announcement of Jobs's death from pancreatic cancer came Wednesday with a simple graceful image on the Apple Web site, people have been gathering outside Apple stores across the globe to show their gratitude and grief for one of the kings of technology.

Large crowds have been showing up at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., to remember Jobs. On the company's campus -- a miniature city of sorts where every building is Apple -- a memorial has been set up, where the public has been stopping by to leave flowers and light candles.

"[Jobs is] somebody who really made a difference in the world. And we felt like we would come down here to see what was happening here," one man who said he drove an hour to be there told ABC News.

Apple has said that it doesn't know when or if there will be a public memorial service for Jobs.

Outside the Apple Store in New York a simple sign reading "I Love Steve" was displayed. One man started bawling, iPad in arms, when asked how he felt about Jobs' death. And a message was written in what looks like lipstick on the window at an Apple Store in Santa Monica, Calif.: "Thank You Steve," and a drawing of an apple.

In Tokyo, Beijing, and Seoul they loved him too. At the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, employees of Apple's store reportedly held a silent moment of prayer before opening to customers. A candlelight vigil planned outside the store at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Many in Asia feel that Jobs was one of the most crucial men working in the world of technology, and compare Apple to Sony at its prime.

"His ability as a CEO was unmatched. I think he had an incredible impact on leaders of Japanese corporations," Atsushi Nemoto, a Japanese Jobs fan, said Thursday.

In China alone, more than 50 million messages have been posted on their equivalent to Twitter. It's reported that within four hours of the announcement, nearly 35 million messages were posted on Sina Weibo and 23 million messages on Tencent QQ Weibo, China's biggest microblogging sites.

And Jobs' contemporaries, the fellow kings of software, also had plenty to say of the man who challenged them again and again by making gadgets, gizmos and new technology something sought after and truly cool.

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," Bill Gates said.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had kind words for the man he called his mentor.

Actress Eva Longoria tweeted "What an inspiration he was to us all and a creative visionary for the world!," while Ashton Kutcher wrote: "We have all surfed on the wake of Steve Jobs ship. Now we must learn to sail, but we will never forget our skipper."

Jobs's influence on the world of music has arguably been just as influential as it has on the world of computing and the mobile phone market. Not only did he bring the iPod into the mobile music market -- essentially allowing users to keep their entire music catalogue in their pockets -- but in January 2001 he helped to usher in the digitalization of music for the everyday user with iTunes.

And of course the circuits on Twitter and YouTube were overflowing overnight with tributes from around the world. From students to grown men, it seems almost everyone has something to say about Jobs.

"Just thinking about it, i even used one his quotes for my senior quote last year…innovation distinguishes a follower from a leader," a young student said on YouTube.

And of course politicians and pundits are chiming in with praise and admiration for a true American innovator. President Obama released a statement shortly after news came of Jobs's death.

"Steve was among the greatest of American innovators -- brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it," Obama wrote.

The Republican field also took to Twitter to express their feelings on Jobs.

"Steve jobs is an inspiration to American entrepreneurs. He will be missed," tweeted Mitt Romney, while Herman Cain wrote, "this country is made great by those who personify the American Dream; Steve Jobs gave us new ways with which to dream."

But the world's emotions were perhaps best summed up in a tweet that came in the form of four simple letters: "I-Sad."